Olga Markova

Olga Markova became Russia's figure skating champion Monday after a sensational optional program at St. Petersburg. Maria Butyrskaya, who had led after the technical program, finished second. Irina Slutskaya was third. College Basketball Arkansas remained No. 1 as the top seven teams held their places in the Associated Press college basketball poll. UCLA, an impressive winner at Houston, moved up one spot to No. 8.

Olga Markova became Russia's figure skating champion Monday after a sensational optional program at St. Petersburg. Maria Butyrskaya, who had led after the technical program, finished second. Irina Slutskaya was third. College Basketball Arkansas remained No. 1 as the top seven teams held their places in the Associated Press college basketball poll. UCLA, an impressive winner at Houston, moved up one spot to No. 8.

Cosmas N'Deti of Kenya gave his 4-day-old son a legacy Monday. The new father said he approached the running of the Boston Marathon as a warrior would defend his family. "When you are going to war, you must have a gun and bullets," N'Deti said. "For me, this was like going to war. I must defend my family. When he grows, I will tell my son what I did and that he must also defend his family." As a warrior, N'Deti makes a great marathoner.

Cosmas N'Deti of Kenya gave his 4-day-old son a legacy Monday. The new father said he approached the running of the Boston Marathon as a warrior would defend his family. "When you are going to war, you must have a gun and bullets," N'Deti said. "For me, this was like going to war. I must defend my family. When he grows, I will tell my son what I did and that he must also defend his family." As a warrior, N'Deti makes a great marathoner.

Sit close enough to Shamu at Sea World, and you get what's coming to you. Drenched. Russia's Olga Markova did just that on an early weekday visit, and was doused from head to toe. "Big whale," she said. Big splash. But instead of a change of clothes, Markova opted for a change of shoes. Because when the shoes get wet, so do the feet, and when the feet are carrying you to world-class prominence in running, you don't take chances.

A 97-year-old tradition continues today, as the Boston Marathon is run over roads spotted with potholes caused by winter storms. This annual 26.2-mile race from suburban Hopkinton, over undulating hills, to finish in the gritty streets of downtown Boston is that event that welcomes spring to this region.

Not everyone is capable of running a marathon. For those who simply want to be a part of the festivities for Sunday's seventh annual L.A. Marathon, there's a chance. The Rogaine 5K is run in conjunction with the marathon and, at 3.1 miles, it is more accessible to most runners. Even though there are world-class athletes in the field, race organizers expect some 3,000 entrants among recreational runners.

More than 7,000 running enthusiasts from around the world as well as the county will participate in Sunday's Carlsbad 5000, a 5K running/walking road event with separate races for Olympic runners, men, women, people over 40, and wheelchair athletes. The seventh annual event also features a two-day health and fitness expo. The first of the five races is the People's Master's Race (for men and women over 40 years old) beginning at 7:30 a.m.

More than 10,000 runners are expected to compete in Sunday's 14th annual Mobil St. Patrick's Day Run that begins at 8 a.m. at the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance. The all-woman elite division offers a $20,000 purse--one of the largest for an all-woman race in the United States. The winner earns $7,500. This year's elite field is the strongest ever, according to race promoter Rochelle Baker.

Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya, a three-time winner of the Boston Marathon, remarked as he reviewed entries for Monday's race: "What other race in the world, including the Olympics, can you run against eight other Kenyans?" Where indeed? Boston's challenging and storied course annually attracts the best in the world, and in the men's marathon that inevitably means Africans.

Sit close enough to Shamu at Sea World, and you get what's coming to you. Drenched. Russia's Olga Markova did just that on an early weekday visit, and was doused from head to toe. "Big whale," she said. Big splash. But instead of a change of clothes, Markova opted for a change of shoes. Because when the shoes get wet, so do the feet, and when the feet are carrying you to world-class prominence in running, you don't take chances.

When Kenyan Elijah Lagat began running eight years ago, he wasn't thinking of winning marathons or making Olympic teams. He just didn't want to die. "I was not an athlete--I was fat," said the 5-foot-6 Lagat, who in 1992 weighed about 160 pounds and was often having difficulty breathing. "My doctor told me that if I continued like that, I could die because of a heart problem, so I started to jog. Then I started to compete.

In these months leading up to this summer's Barcelona Olympics every race, even a small one, may carry an uncommon significance to world class-runners. Every race becomes a conduit for information--who's injured, who's in what kind of shape and where are the top runners competing next. Such was the case at Sunday's 13th Annual Mobil St. Patrick's Day 10K Run for the Blind, as a handful of the world's best female runners used the race to assess the progress of themselves and others.